Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor on Tuesday confirmed that Leng Rong, head of the Party Literature Research Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, will lead a central authorities delegation to Hong Kong later this week. During the visit, Leng will host a seminar for principal officials of the SAR government and senior civil servants explaining General Secretary Xi Jinping's report at the 19th National Congress of the CPC, which concluded last month. Lam also explained why such a seminar is taking place when answering a reporter's question on the opposition camp's objections to the seminar.

It seems some people here are allergic to useful knowledge about the Chinese mainland, particularly about the CPC, the ruling party that formulates development strategy for the country, which affects Hong Kong profoundly. That display of "defensive instinct" may not surprise many local residents but it does trigger unwarranted suspicions precisely because of ignorance, which is also why Hong Kong needs to know more.

Lam noted on Tuesday that this week's seminar is not the first or the last of such events, when central government officials and researchers familiar with the policymaking process are invited to Hong Kong and present valuable information about specific national development strategies to the special administrative region's officials and the press. Such seminars are a logical response to the nation's phenomenal economic growth and socio-political development since the reform and opening-up drive began almost 40 years ago, and Hong Kong's increasing involvement in many aspects of national development. That is why previous SAR governments also decided to invite central government officials and experts to come over and help local officials, especially those involved in policymaking here. This is so they can learn more about national development strategies and understand them better.

One example can be found in the Five-Year National Development Program, which is presented to the National People's Congress for approval every five years. Another fine example would be the Belt and Road Initiative, which was unveiled in 2013. Obviously national development strategies of this magnitude concern Hong Kong in many ways and offer the SAR numerous opportunities to benefit from.

However, it can be quite difficult for Hong Kong to seize these opportunities if it does not know the strategies well enough. And the high-level seminars are designed precisely to fill in such "blanks" - to keep local policymakers adequately informed. Other than government officials and civil servants, the delegation will also try to help members of the public better understand Xi's report at the CPC's 19th National Congress, with intimate knowledge about the background and philosophy behind the monumental document.

(HK Edition 11/22/2017 page8)